All in Second Star to the Right
There is no denying that a trip to Disney World is an exciting proposition that every family hopes to make someday. Indeed, a visit to this enormous resort complex near Orlando, Florida is considered the ideal of family vacations, with its four exciting theme parks, two water parks, dozens of luxury hotels and fine dining restaurants, as well as terrific shopping and entertainment possibilities. Of course, the Disney vacation experience is also well-known for its inclusiveness, customer service, and those magic little touches that just tell their clientele that they are values. It truly is a magic place.
Read More »
Disney fans: we all love our princesses from Ariel to Tiana, we drool over our dashing heroes, and laugh at all the loyal and loveable sidekicks. But if we were to be honest, it is the villains in Disney movies that get us most-excited. And why not? They are some of the most beautifully drawn of all the animated characters, they always have epic moments of evil, and they always keep the balance in Disney movies, saving the stories from becoming too sticky sweet.
Having grown up in the 80s where kid-centric sitcoms were a regular part of the television landscape, it is probably no surprise that I continue to look for similar entertainment in my adulthood. In my youth, colorful family programming such as Silver Spoons, Punky Brewster, Small Wonder and ALF, usually with outlandishly ludicrous premises, were an escape for those kids who enjoyed a little adventure and fun. In my "maturity", I find myself nostalgic for that kind of sitcom, a brand that is no longer found on network television. This is why I will often turn on the Disney Channel or Disney XD for some lighthearted entertainment reminiscent of those 80s favorites.
Disney musicals on Broadway can be enormous hits: Beauty and the Beast, Aida, The Lion King, Aladdin, Newsies, Mary Poppins were all unqualified successes. The Little Mermaid didn't fair quite as well, but the title has become a popular one with regional theatres and summer stock companies. Then there is poor Tarzan, a peculiar choice to receive the Broadway treatment, but a production that was filled with some inventive and startling moments. Tarzan is, of course, based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs novel of the same name about a human boy whose family is shipwrecked to a remote African jungle. When the boy's parents are killed, he is raised by a family of gorillas. He grows into adulthood, mastering survival from the animals that surround and teach him by example. When he is reclaimed by the human race, Tarzan must navigate living a life somewhere between his jungle family and his newfound life with the girl Jane and mankind as a whole.
